ESCONDIDO: Diaz wants attorney general's opinion on checkpoints

License enforcement stops raise legal questions

Escondido Councilwoman Olga Diaz has asked state Attorney
General Jerry Brown to issue a formal opinion on whether the city's
controversial driver's license checkpoints are being conducted in a
legal manner.

Diaz, who opposes the checkpoints, said she wants the attorney
general to clarify the state's position.

"If these police practices are unlawful in the State of
California, I'd like to have them stopped in my city," Diaz wrote
in a letter sent this week to the attorney general's office.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court has never directly ruled on
whether driver's license checkpoints are constitutional, it has
said in several cases that it would uphold properly administered
checkpoints. How these checkpoints are legally administered is what
drives much of the argument for and against them.

During the driver's license checkpoints, police block a road and
screen all drivers as they come through. They check the picture on
the driver's license to see whether the picture matches the person
and whether the document is expired.

They don't check other documents, to prevent traffic
backups.

Those who oppose the checkpoints say that stopping drivers just
to check their licenses is against state law. But those who support
the checkpoints say the law refers to officers on patrol, not
checkpoints.

Some Latino activists have been critical of the checkpoints,
saying they disproportionately affect their community. That is
because illegal immigrants, many of whom are Latinos, are barred by
state law from having driver's licenses.

On the other hand, supporters say the checkpoints have nothing
to do with race or ethnicity. They say unlicensed drivers should
obey the law and not drive.

Patricia Bennett formed Citizens of Escondido for Road Safety in
2007 to support the Police Department and its checkpoint
policy.

"We all have to abide by the law," Bennett said. "I want to get
everyone who is unlicensed and uninsured off the road."

In recent years, the Escondido Police Department has ramped up
the number of driver's license and sobriety checkpoints in its
effort to curb hit-and-run accidents and keep unlicensed drivers
off the city's streets.

From 2006 to 2008, the department said it conducted 70
checkpoints ---- 39 driver's license checkpoints and 31 sobriety
checkpoints.

The checkpoints, especially those aimed at catching unlicensed
drivers, have been harshly criticized by Latino and civil rights
groups, such as the North County-based El Grupo and the American
Civil Liberties Union.

In December, the ACLU and El Grupo sent a letter to the city
that said the driver's license checkpoints were illegal under state
law.

They cited a state attorney general's report issued in March
2009 that says, among other things, that driver's license
checkpoints violate a state law that says police can't stop drivers
simply to check their licenses.

The attorney general's report cited by the ACLU was related to
an investigation of the city of Maywood's Police Department.

"Checkpoints conducted solely to identify unlicensed drivers
violate Vehicle Code section 14607.6," according to the attorney
general's report. "That section provides that an officer 'shall not
stop a vehicle for the sole reason of determining whether the
driver is properly licensed.'"

In a letter responding to the groups' criticisms, Epp said he
disagreed with the ACLU and El Grupo's interpretation of the law.
In the letter dated Jan. 11, 2010, Epp said the law was intended to
"prohibit officers from randomly pulling vehicles over on routine
patrol to demand a driver's license."

However, the city agreed to change the way it conducts driver's
license checkpoints, Epp said in the letter. Epp could not be
reached for comment on Thursday.

"The city will modify its so-called driver's license checkpoints
to include a request for vehicle registration and vehicle insurance
along with the driver's license," Epp wrote.

Bill Flores, a retired assistant sheriff who lives in Escondido
and is a spokesman for El Grupo, said the law does not distinguish
whether a driver can be stopped by an officer at a checkpoint or
while on patrol.

Christine Gasparac, a spokeswoman for the state attorney
general, declined to comment, saying that the office had not
received Diaz's request.

In December, Gasparac said that the Maywood report was not
intended to be a formal opinion on the legality of driver's license
checkpoints.

An ACLU spokeswoman said Thursday that the organization is
evaluating the changes the city made to its checkpoints. She added
the group has not decided what other steps it may take.

Diaz said she wrote the letter because she doesn't want the city
embroiled in a potentially expensive lawsuit at a time when it is
already struggling financially.